Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-09-09
A MAN OF MAGIC.
INFORMATION FOR THOSE WISHING
TO LEARN SLElGHT OF HAND.

A Reporters Chat with a Modern 1Iagi-
cian-Outfit Needed by an Amateur
Conjurer--Deeds of Diab;erie-Several
New Tricks.
Militiaman John A. Schultz, the genial
conjurer of the Eighth regiment, had Just
produced the pleasing illusion that the re-
porter's hat was savings bank by appar-
emily abstracting from the lining several
crisp bank notes, half dozen So gold
pieces, and a quantity of silver dimes and
quarters, when the reporter seized the OPP
portnnity and fired questions straight at
him without any delay whatever.
"Well," said Militiaman Schultz, with
a smile, ''as magicians are good people to
have around, and as the more good people
there are around in the world the better
1t Will become, don't mind giving you
the secret that viii increase our number.
The first tip is to go straight to some good
magician and take lessons in the art direct
from him Books of instructions are use
fnl only after the first principles of the
art are mastered.
"When you can palm and pass things
so that you can fool all the smart small
boy and al the smarter grown up folks in
your house and in the family next door,
you're ready to go ahead in your career
as a professional deceiver of your fellow
man. The next step in that career is to
get magical apparatus. That's the way
globes of gold fishes and dishes of blazing
oil and other startling things are pro-
duced from empty pocket handkerchiefs.
1t was by mechanical devices that Robert
Heller was able to take out Of q mans hat
- Ill e %oo
caddies, innumerable lighted Chinese
lanterns, about q ton Of rubber balls and
wooden blocks, wardrobe of clothes, a
pyramid of dishes, and finally the bright
little girl who used to run down laughing
to a seat among the spectators. When it
comes to the apparatus you can go it
economically, or you can revel in the
luxuriant expenditure of prolific income.
Magical outfits range in cost all the way
from 500 up into the thousands. \ good
amateur, unless he wants to confine him
self exclusively to card tricks, can't pos
sibly get along in a parlor entertainment
without center table. These range in
cost from about $50 to $500. according to
finish and the number of traps and things
intended to produce the startling effects
that demonstrate to your smart spectator
that he isn't as smart as he thinks he is.
OTHER NEEDED ARTICLES.
After you get your table the rest of
your outlay is for mechanical tricks, the
first thing, of course, to procure being
your coniurer's wand and trick tube
pistol, into which you can load things
that you have smashed to flinders and
want to reproduce whole. There are sew
eral kinds of wands. One sort will float
IN, l,a y-o
pear down your throat, and another will
fish silver half dollars from the empty air
for you. Then you will want glass boxes
that look empty until you want them to
be full of curious things; card cases for
making cards disappear, and to cut up
other queer antics with; the inexhaustible
bottle, u time honored chestnut Of a trick,
but percnnially interesting to the chill
dren-magic bird cages, money chests,
and lots of other paraphernalia. In all
there are over 200 pieces of apparatus for
standard tricks, from the simple tiny rub
Der bottle that hobs up persistently until
the conjurer tells it to lie down, to the ap-
paratus that viii enable you to safely cut
off the head of your best friend among
the spectators"
AHlitiaman Schultz stopped for breath
when he had piled all this mystic lore
upon the reporters head, and gave the
scribe a chance to talk on his own account.
Tremendously the reporter said, sand
what did you say it would cost 10 learn it
all?''
I didn't say yet, - retorted the militia
man, who can do over 800 strange, be-
wildering and incomprehensible deeds of
diablerie--'I didn't say yet, but I'm
going to tell you now. You or anybody
else can learn TO become Il magician Of
varying excellence by paying from S25 to
$500 TO any one of the pupils whom Herr
man or Heller has kindly taught. For
$25 you can learn select few good tricks,
but for $500 probably, or 5000 at the out
side, you can get q training that viii enable
you to do everything That anybody who
doesn't want the earth would care TO per-
form.
1.-The conjurer must be a good talker
and q funny one at that. BY saying
funny things and being perfectly cool at
all times he can travel smoothly along
with every trick. 1t is necessary in o
great many good tricks to talk away at
the spectators TO give them the impression
that you are explaining what you are
going to do, when in reality you only |
want to misLead them. The man who |
talks well and entertainingly can accom- |
plish his purpose readily. Who ever saw
Heller, for instance, was delighted as
much by his bright talk almost as by the |
tricks he did. If trick is successfully |
performed the wise coniurer win not re- |
peat it again that night The wise con-
jurer will also keep his spectators some |
distance from his conjuring tables, and, |
above all, if he blunders he VIII never |
allow the hunder to confuse him, but |
viii cleverly pretend that it was an effect |
that he purposely intended 10 produce. |
The conjUrer can never afford to be in too |
much of Il hurry either. He wants to be |
dead sure that he is going ahead with GER
tainty. Magic, in short, is one of those |
things il which you have TO hasten |
slowly"
FEW NEW TRICKS.
Militiaman Schultz paused again, and, |
borrowing the reporters lead pencil, |
kindly pulled two Reina Victoria cigars
out of the end of it, and presenting one to
the writer, lit the other himself Then /
he pulled yards of tape cut of the sharp
ened end of the pencil and poker deck
out of the side, and sat down laughing.
by the way" the reporter asked when
the pencil was returned uninjured, |
whats new in magic, anyhow
This" replied the mystic subordinate
Of Col Scott There was buzzing sound
in the magician's scarf, and the gold
head chartered its teeth and
rolled its diamond eyes at the reporter in |
O most remarkable manner.
Another new trick" continued the
lis what is called the mes
I'LL